In a moment of political and economic uncertainty, Portugal must know which is the best way of proceeding towards the new challenges.How can we apply the concept of eco-city to an urban structure that is a World Heritage Site?

Abstract

The territorial scope that is intended to address, corresponds to the city of Porto, located in the northern region of Portugal, on the western periphery of Europe.In last 30 years, the city of Porto has lost approximately 25% of its population (today around 225.000 inhabitants), fruit of migration to neighboring territories, included within the metropolitan area that polarizes the city of Porto, and the absence of municipal policies that countered these moves to exit.In contrast, the population that uses the city has grown as a result of the installation of services and public institutions, especially those in technical colleges and universities.City witch the historic center is a World Heritage Site and that is the apex of the “triangle trade” of Port wine (Douro: production; Gaia: storage; Porto: trade), home of works that are “born” of the architecture university, one of the most prestigious of the world, along with engineering and medicine universities, have in these factors the reason for its rising demand as a city of heritage, culture and science.Aware that environmental issues currently placed in metropolitan areas have to be resolved at this scale, the municipalities of Porto Metropolitan Area (PMA), even in the absence of a body with functions of metropolitan government, implemented a series of actions with impact improving on environmental quality and greater efficiency of services and of the economy, with emphasis on: central composting and incineration of metropolitan solid waste, light rail network, high-water network supply, etc.In is turn, the city of Porto has carried out complementary activities, with direct impact on its geographic territory and binding capacity of the resident population and attraction of new generations.These operations come into sustainable development policies, that the city government has implemented, and aimed to strengthening social and territorial cohesion, economic development, safeguarding and improving environmental quality, adding a logic of territorial competitiveness.The most important ones are:• Increased public green area per inhabitant, by consolidating the systematic delineation of the ecological structure;• The reinforcement, along with the Metro system, sustainable mobility, with the installation of cycle lanes, public transport with trams and the reduction in private motor transport;• The preservation and reuse of the built heritage, with policies on urban regeneration interventions offset by new construction;• Increase of renewable energy sources (solar thermal, photovoltaic and geothermal);• Implementation of environmental monitoring systems and urban planning.